A New Washback Model of Students’ Learning

Abstract: This study investigated the washback of the General English Proficiency Test on English learning in Taiwan. The research sites were the applied foreign language departments of a university of technology and an institute of technology. The latter required day-division students to pass the first stage of the test's intermediate level or the school-administered make-up examination, whereas the former did not prescribe any General English Proficiency Test requirement. Department documents and records were reviewed, and the department chair, teachers, students, and parents or spouses of participating students were interviewed. One of the courses taught by each interviewed teacher, as well as activities in the self-study centre, were observed. Findings indicated that existing theories did not fully explain the washback of this test on educational context, so a new, tentative washback model is proposed.